Dota 2 Handicap Betting: Meaning, Guide & Tips

How to bet on Dota 2 Handicap?

When it comes to Dota handicap betting, there’s a few things you need to know before you get started with this form of betting. Luckily for you, we’ve got you covered – take a look right here.

Our Dota handicap betting guide will hopefully give you everything you need to know about handicap betting, and how it’s applied to Dota. We’re also going to give you a few pieces of advice – because we’re nice like that. As well as all of that, we’ll discuss all the different types of betting available to you.

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What is Handicap Betting?

Dota 2: How To Bet in Asian Handicap

Betting in Dota 2 Handicap

Let’s take it all the way to the absolute basics, so we’re all on the same page and have a foundation of understanding when it comes to handicap betting. Handicap betting is usually a betting option on many bookmakers’ sites, and is a way of levelling the playing fields, so to speak.

We found that the official definition of ‘handicap’ is “a circumstance that makes success difficult.” In terms of online gambling, when there is a clear favourite in a matchup, bookmakers will put a handicap market in place, meaning a player/team will have to meet certain criteria for your bet to be successful.

It’s an added option for bettors, which makes matches with strong favourites more appealing to bet on. If a team is very, very likely to win, their odds won’t be an appealing sight, and odds would be lower than evens, which isn’t even

It’s also worth noting that you may see ‘spreads’ as an option. Spreads is an alternative name for handicap bets, so if you’re ever getting confused between the two, just remember – they’re exactly the same.

Example

Let’s say we have a football match between Team A and Team B. Team A is the strong favourite, with odds of 1/10. Meanwhile, Team B is not likely to win the game, and has odds of 20/1.

Bookmakers could offer a handicap market of: Team A (-2) with 2/1 odds, and Team B (+2) with 1/1 odds. Here, Team A would have to win by 3 goals or more for your bet to be successful.

Easy, right?

Asian Handicap Betting

So now you know about spreads, there’s also another handicap that’s worth understanding – Asian handicap lines. This handicap is a form of spread betting, and has a very similar structure to it, but we promise there is a difference.

As you may have guessed, it is a very popular betting market in, you guessed it, Asia. The system originated in Indonesia to be exact, and has increased in popularity since the start of the 21st century.

Asian handicap betting reduces the number of outcomes of a particular match, eliminating the draw outcome. Therefore, bookies will deliver two betting options that both have a success rate of close to 50%. This makes it a much closer matchup, with the strong favourite having to win by a considerable amount for a bet placed on them to be successful. The positive to that, though, is the fact that the returns of a successful bet will be much greater.

For Dota, this is also a common form of betting, with a draw not being an option – there will be a winner and loser of each Dota match.

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Dota 2 Handicap Meaning

If a team is looking a strong favourite in a Dota match and/or tournament, bookmakers may offer some form of handicap bet available to make the odds more appealing to bettors.

As we mentioned, there has to be a winner and loser of each Dota match, meaning the Asian handicap betting options are more common for betting on esports, with most of the popular esports titles having a definitive winner and loser of each match.

When you’re looking to place a bet on Dota and you want to use the handicap betting options, we recommend doing some Dota research to improve your esports knowledge and understanding. This way, you’ll have a much more informed decision-making process, and will be able to decide if a team is looking as strong as the odds suggest.

But let's give you an example: Let's say you want to bet on the Dota 2 European Pro League, specifically in the match between Palianytsia vs. Natus Vincere Junior (NAVI); NAVI is widely known as the better team than Paliany, which automatically makes it the favorite. Many handicaps Dota 2 operators will add to NAVI a handicap of (1.5), meaning that if your bet selection is NAVI, they need to win their series by a 1.5-round difference. Of course, there isn't anything like half a win or draw, this is simple to technically made imposible a team to draw in the handicap. The opposite goes for those who select Paliany; if the team loses with a difference of (-1.5) rounds or less, you can still win the bet.

Types of handicap Dota 2 bets

Something great about Dota 2 handicap betting is that you don't always need to bet on the map to round the winner; there are other types of handicap bets for this classic MOBA eSports. Check the table below to know them.

Where to place Dota 2 handicap bets

With many bookmakers adopting eSports, finding one that offers Dota 2 Handicap is not that complex. However, the important thing is not only that it offers it but that it provides the user with a complete and rewarding experience. Here you have the top 3 bookmakers to place Dota 2 handicap bets.

Stake.com

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eSports betting at Stake.com

Stake.com is one of the most relevant bookmakers at the moment, not only because it is one of the few platforms that offers cryptocurrencies as a payment method but also because it has one of the largest eSports catalogs, with more than 14 eSports, including Dota 2, and thousands of markets, such as handicap, total, over/under.

It currently offers a 200% bonus up to $2,000 for eSports, which you can get with our code STRAFESPOVIP.

Features:

• Up to $2000 bonus for eSports
• Thousands of annual eSports betting events
• 24/7 customer service
• Large selection of cryptocurrenciesFast withdrawals

BCGame

eSports betting at BCGame

eSports handicap betting at BCGame

Another crypto platform to make it to the top 3, BCGame is one of the current best-looking platforms to offer Asian handicap, specifically with a huge number of events for map handicap in Dota 2. Of course, one of the greatest advantages this platform provides is its eSports bonus of 100% up to $1000 when signing up.

Features:

• Up to $1000 welcome bonus for eSports
• Top tournament coverage, including 'The International'
• Large selection of cryptocurrencies
• 24/7 customer service
• Fast withdrawals

Sportsbet.io

eSports betting at Sportsbet.io

eSports handicap betting at Sportsbet.io

If there's a bookmaker that understands Dota 2 handicap meaning, it's definitely Sportsbet.io. Not only does it offer a huge catalog of Dota 2 events, including tournaments and leagues like the European Pro, but it also makes it easier for users, allowing quick access to handicap betting. Just by one click, you can place your wager.

Features:

• Price-boost promotion
• Great usability and luck
• Multiple cryptocurrencies available
• It also offers FIAT payment methods
• Various Dota 2 leagues and tournaments

Things to Consider with Dota Handicap Betting

Find the perfect bookmaker for you

When you’re first starting out, there’s a chance you can be overwhelmed with the amount of choices you have when deciding what bookmaker you’re going to place a bet with. There’s more operators than ever before in the gambling industry, a sector that is continuing to rise. On top of that, the esports betting world has been introduced in recent times, and this has been an even quicker rise in popularity. At Strafe, we recommend looking at a number of bookmakers and comparing them to see which bookie best suits your betting wants and needs. To help, we’ve dedicated a section on our site to bookmaker reviews – where we discuss which operators we think are worth looking at.

Build your Dota 2 knowledge

One way of benefitting your Dota betting experience is to build on your Dota knowledge and understanding constantly, It's a good thing you start on the right foot by understanding the game's handicap meaning in Dota 2. This way, you’ll become much more familiar with pro players, teams and playing strategies. From all of this information, you can adapt and adjust your betting strategy to match your understanding of eSports. For example, if a certain team tends to attack from the very start of a match, whilst the enemy team looks to build on their defensive strategy first, then don’t you think the ‘first blood’ market can be looked at? We certainly think so. Also, if you get to know the teams and their form, placing bets on tournaments and competitions could be an option for you. Don't forget how relevant map awareness is. Creeps and map rewards don't look important if you're a casual bettor, but for the sake of the matches, the team with the best map domination can literally win.

Dota live handicap betting options

The esports live betting world is growing rapidly, and Dota is among the esports where live betting is flourishing. We think in-play betting on Dota is a great betting experience for all esports punters. On top of this, you will build your Dota knowledge – like we mentioned earlier – as you will be familiar with what happens during Dota matches. If that wasn’t enough, watching Dota matches live (either via your own stream or through a bookie’s free streaming service) will give you a greater understanding to place in-game wagers.

Understand the odds

Being able to read different forms of odds is crucial when it comes to Dota betting, and it’s especially key for handicap betting. Once you have a good understanding of handicap betting, and how this form of betting works, you will be able to make better decisions as to if you want to place a bet on a handicap betting market. In general, knowing how to interpret odds will be very beneficial for your betting, and could, in some cases, be the difference between winning and losing a bet on Dota.

Consider Dota matches and tournaments

Fortunately for us esports fans, Dota tournaments take place all year round, with the season being held over a large portion of the year. On top of that, there are a number of major Dota tournaments that are available to bet on, which benefits us even further. When you’re looking to place any form of bets, including handicap bets, you may want to consider which upcoming tournaments and competitions are happening. This way, your betting strategy can be planned, and you will be able to build on this. As well as that, you can research the latest tournament’s results, seeing which teams were successful and their performances, and can use this to influence your future Dota bets.

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Best Dota Tournaments and leagues for handicap betting

Just like in traditional sports, in the world of eSports there are also the most prominent leagues and tournaments, and Dota 2 is no exception. Below, we will present the best events for handicap betting in Dota 2.

• ESL One: Finally, a classic of classics, the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) combines a large part of the Dota 2 circuits, with all the teams competing to obtain the best classification.
• DreamLeague: The DreamLeague is a European tournament for which 16 teams qualify, four of which are from the EPT classification table and at least one from each European region. They all face each other in a round-robin group and then move on to double elimination. With the best European teams present, it becomes one of the most attractive tournaments for handicap betting.
• The International: The International is the equivalent tournament to the FIFA World Cup. The best teams from all regions of the world gather in a competition with no rival. You will definitely want to be a part of it.

Other Betting Types

Dota handicap betting is just one form of betting, and there’s more types when it comes to placing a bet on Dota. If you’re looking for a full, in-depth look into the Dota betting scene, we recommend checking out our Dota betting guide, where we discuss everything you need to know about betting on the popular esport.

Pre-Match

Before a Dota match begins, select bookmakers will offer a number of Dota markets available to customers. This includes the most common betting markets, including ‘match winner’ odds. If you’re looking to place a bet on the winner before it has started, and if you fancy your chances with your Dota understanding, then a lot of operators will cater for you.

Depending on the bookmaker, select operators will also offer you the chance to place your Dota bets on which player/team will get first blood in the upcoming match. This is another common betting market for Dota, which is very popular among esports punters.

These are just some of the options, and they vary from bookie to bookie. Some of the dedicated esports betting sites will look to offer more pre-match opportunities for customers, which is a great benefit if you’re wanting to bet on an upcoming Dota match.

Outright

Outright betting is where you look at the overall result of a particular match. So, if you feel like you have the knowledge and have done your Dota research, then you may want to place a bet on who’s going to win a selected match.

On top of that, many bookmakers also offer bettors like yourself the opportunity to place an outright bet on Dota tournament winners. As Dota is considered one of the most popular esports titles when it comes to betting, operators’ coverage of Dota 2 is nearly always extensive, which is great news for us.

Therefore, outright betting options are available on a lot of bookmakers’ sites, so if you’ve had a look at an upcoming Dota tournament, and you want to place a bet on the competition winner, this will be possible with most bookmakers. Furthermore, odds for this are usually better value before the tournament, as no one has entered the arena to battle, yet, meaning it’s much more difficult to assess, resulting in some generous odds.

Live Betting

The esports live betting scene is becoming increasingly popular, with many bookmakers now offering a lot more in-play betting markets than ever before. There’s now loads to choose from on a high number of betting sites when it comes to live betting markets.

Along with the same betting markets available before a match has started, multiple bookmakers will add to their markets, involving many other different event outcomes. Markets include ‘total kills’, ‘map winner’ and ‘over/under’ – just a few examples of what to expect when you go to place a live bet on Dota.

A number of bookies also offer a free live streaming service on their site for customers to tune in to watch their favourite esports action unfold. It’s a great benefit for esports bettors – being able to watch the best esports tournaments around whilst betting on them with a wide range of betting markets and some competitive odds? Yes please.

Find out more about how to bet live on Dota on our dedicated Dota live betting page.

Our Final Thoughts About Handicap Betting

Handicap betting in terms of Dota is an exciting addition for punters looking to take their esports betting to the next level. This form of betting is a great benefit for esports punters like yourself to get involved with those matches that are looking almost decided. With the adjusted odds, and a handicap in place, the particular match then looks more appealing to place a bet on.

With that said, Dota is a very competitive esport, and there is a very, very high level of competition in the major Dota tournaments. This means a strong favourite is rare, unless there is a very clear favourite. If that was the case, then you could look at the handicap betting option to enhance your Dota betting experience. Either way, we think that it’s a win-win situation, so if the handicap betting is a viable option to you, then by all means take advantage of it.

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Dota 2 Handicap Betting FAQs